Dorking - Search Commands and Operators

Search dorking tips and tricks and how to the best from your search engine. Documented for archive purposes before AI takes over.

Precision Operators

  • site: — Limits results to a specific website or domain (e.g. site:gov vaccine)
  • -site: — Excludes a specific site from results (e.g. electric vehicles -site:Kia.com)
  • "exact phrase" — Forces Google to match those exact words in that exact order
  • -word — Removes a word from results entirely (e.g. jaguar -car)
  • X..Y (number range) — Filters by numerical range; works for prices, years, or any measurement (e.g. laptop £500..£800)
  • * (wildcard) — Stands in for any missing word or phrase (e.g. "the * of artificial intelligence")
  • AROUND(#) — Undocumented proximity operator; returns results where two terms appear within # words of each other (e.g. climate AROUND(3) policy)
  • Verbatim mode — Via Tools > All Results > Verbatim; disables synonym-swapping and personalisation, returns exactly what you typed

Finding Primary Sources

  • filetype: — Returns only a specific file type (e.g. filetype:pdf remote work productivity)
  • intitle:"index of" — Surfaces open file directories on servers with directory listing enabled (e.g. intitle:"index of" /pdf "media literacy")
  • before: / after: — Sets a date boundary on results (e.g. mental health research after:2023)
  • intitle: — Filters to pages where a phrase appears in the page title (e.g. intitle:"media literacy")
  • inurl: — Filters by text appearing in the URL (e.g. inurl:gov intitle:"AI policy")

Finding Real Human Opinions

  • "can anyone recommend" — Surfaces forum threads and community posts asking for genuine recommendations, bypassing SEO content
  • @reddit (or other platform) — Biases results toward social/community discussions from that platform
  • Omitted results link — Click “include omitted results” at the bottom of a page; shows less-trafficked, less SEO-optimised sources

Stacking Operators

  • Combine multiple operators for precision (e.g. filetype:pdf "information literacy" site:edu before:2015)
  • Flight number (e.g. UA 2157) — Live gate, times, delay status, and real-time tracker
  • Package tracking number — Auto-detects UPS/FedEx/USPS format and shows live delivery status
  • run speed test — Measures download/upload speed in-browser, no third-party site needed
  • [thing] vs [thing] — Side-by-side comparison panel (works for food, software, medications, etc.)
  • define: [word] — Full dictionary definition plus etymology
  • how to pronounce [word] — Audio button and phonetic spelling
  • [food] calories — Nutritional information inline
  • sunrise [city] / sunset [city] — Exact times for any location
  • time in [city] — Current local time anywhere in the world
  • [amount] [currency] to [currency] — Live exchange rate
  • stock [ticker] — Live price chart with trading volume
  • tip for $[amount] — Tip calculator with percentage and split options
  • translate [phrase] to [language] — Full translation widget with audio
  • what is my IP — Returns your IP address immediately
  • random number between X and Y — Instant random number generator
  • color picker — Interactive colour wheel with hex and RGB codes
  • timer [X] minutes — Starts a countdown without leaving Google
  • metronome — Working, adjustable metronome
  • bubble level — Uses phone gyroscope as an actual level
  • breathing exercise — Guided timed breath pattern
  • what sound does a [animal] make — Plays actual audio
  • flip a coin / roll a die — Works as described
  • Any maths equation — Solved immediately in the search bar

Image Search Tip

  • Tools > Usage Rights — Filters image results to only those licensed for reuse (two clicks deep, easy to miss)

Source: https://cardcatalogforlife.substack.com/p/google-has-a-secret-reference-desk Author: cardcatalogforlife Date: 2026-03-22

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